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Jason Witten says his body 'responded well' after playing his first game with the Cowboys in over a year

Of the 68 offensive snaps vs. the Giants, Witten participated in 45, more than any tight end on the roster.

Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten (82) talks on the sidelines to teammates during the first half of play in the home opener between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sunday, September 8, 2019. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer)

The Cowboys tight end had just played his first game in more than a year, and after catching three passes for 15 yards with one touchdown in the season-opening victory over the New York Giants, the veteran wanted to see how his body felt the day after.

It felt great.

"That's one of my favorites, that Monday workout with [Cowboys director of strength and conditioning] Mike Wojcik and the crew," Witten said Thursday. "That's always a good day. It's the start of the recovery process."

After spending a season working for ESPN as an analyst for Monday Night Football, the return from retirement is complete. Witten can just go back to being a normal football player and dealing with the aches and pains of a season.

When Witten first returned there was a thought he would have limited snaps once the season started. But much like training camp, Witten didn't miss many snaps. Of the 68 offensive snaps, Witten participated in 45, more than any tight end on the roster. Blake Jarwin played 27 snaps and Dalton Schultz was involved in nine.

In his last season before retirement, 2017, only three players had more snaps than Witten's 1,048. That year he played in 98.4% of the snaps.

And when you play that many plays, your body needs time to recover, and after a year away it might be a little harder.

"Recovery has been good," he said. "I think whether it's Year 16 or whether it's Year 1, there's nothing like Week 1. I was proud of my tape that I put out there, and I was running in and out of cuts.

"The transition was good. I thought we blocked well. Then felt good Monday when I woke up, as crazy as it sounds. I missed that feeling waking up, just getting back into it. [The] body responded well. As excited as I was for Week 1, I'm excited for Week 2."

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Cooper high on "nightmare" offense: Wide receiver Amari Cooper said the offensive explosion, which produced 494 yards in Week 1, can give defenses fits if it continues on this path.

"I think that's like a defense's nightmare when everybody is making plays," Cooper said. "How do you game plan against that? How can you make adjustments? What are you going to do?"

Cooper, who averaged 11.8 yards per target in the victory, said spreading the ball around is vital.

"I know we were talking about this on the sidelines, we wanted everyone to get a touchdown," he said.

Calvin Watkins. This is my 10th year covering the Dallas Cowboys. This is special for me because I've never reached the 10th year in anything, other than living. So I guess that's something to be proud of.